Assurant Employee Benefits and Aetna Extend Dental PPO Network Access Agreement

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a continuing effort to provide members with more choices and easier access to quality, cost-effective dental care, Assurant Employee Benefits and Aetna today announce that they are extending their joint dental preferred provider organization network access and servicing agreement through July 2015. Customers of both companies will have access to dentists contracted with the Aetna Dental Access^® network and Dental Health Alliance, L.L.C. ^®, the dental PPO operated by Assurant Employee Benefits.

"Choice and accessibility to network dentists are key factors in our customers' satisfaction with their dental coverage," said John Roberts, Assurant Employee Benefits President and Chief Executive Officer. "We understand their needs and, through our extended relationship with Aetna, they will have access to one of the largest dental PPO networks available."

"By continuing our expanded customer access to care, we believe members will make better use of their benefits today, which can help prevent health concerns later," said Dan Fishbein, Senior Vice President, Head of Group Insurance, Dental, Vision and Consumer Financial Solutions.

A larger dental network allows members to choose a dentist from an expanded provider panel, offering more opportunities to use an in-network dentist and potentially reduce out-of-pocket costs. Due to more dental care choices for members, employers may see increased satisfaction levels with plan benefits. Participating dentists in both networks will also have access to more members. Assurant and Aetna will continue to recruit providers to their individual PPO networks.  

For more information, visit www.assurantemployeebenefits.com or www.aetna.com.

About Assurant Employee Benefits

Assurant Employee Benefits specializes in quality employee benefits and services, including long-term and short-term disability, life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, dental coverage, and disability reinsurance management services. Assurant Employee Benefits is the brand name for insurance products underwritten by Union Security Insurance Company and for prepaid dental products provided by affiliated prepaid dental companies. In New York, insurance products are underwritten and prepaid products are provided by Union Security Life Insurance Company of New York, which is licensed in New York and has its principal place of business in Syracuse, New York. Plans contain limitations, exclusions, restrictions and reductions. 

Assurant Employee Benefits is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and select worldwide markets. Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. www.assurant.com

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.4 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, medical management capabilities, health care management services for Medicaid plans and health information exchange technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com

SOURCE Assurant Employee Benefits